EMWIS Better management of knowledge on water in the Mediterranean

Earth observation and information sharing

The Earth observation satellite programs allow considering new possibilities for knowledge of water resources and environments.

Operational services are being developed.

The recent Hydrospace workshop, organized in September 2015 at the European Space Agency, helped to make an assessment.

Such operational applications will be validated by the SWOS project as regards wetlands or river basins.

EMWIS is participating in this wetlands observation satellite system project to incorporate the needs of water resource managers in connection with the EU Water Directives.

At the same time, the European neighborhood countries are preparing the implementation of Shared Environment Information Systems (SEIS).

In coordination with the European Environment Agency, EMWIS provides technical support, to Morocco in particular, for interoperability and common reference frames, to Algeria for the architecture of the information system, to Israel for environmental accounting of polluting emissions into water.

Technological innovations to meet the Mediterranean challenges

EMWIS is getting mobilized in several European projects to develop technological solutions to respond to the challenges of sustainable water management in the Mediterranean.

The OpIRIS project is working to improve irrigation efficiency thanks to online expert systems to help irrigation planning. The WEAM4i projects aim to develop automated irrigation management systems for farms.

Given the scarcity of the resource, the reuse of treated wastewater is becoming mandatory, but it is necessary to make use of efficient and economically viable processes, tested by the demEAUmed project for the tourist sector, in particular.

The SAID project proposes a homogenous decision-making support system that integrates all the necessary parameters for optimizing the management of large hydraulic structures to meet all needs in a river basin.

The ANADRY project proposes a cheap and effective process for treating the sludge of wastewater treatment plants for its reuse as fertilizer without any health risk or for energy production.

Improving water knowledge for adaptation to climate change

The Mediterranean region is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change on water resources.

The preparation of adaptation plans requires good knowledge and regular monitoring of water resources and of their uses.

In such a context, the project of a Mediterranean Water Knowledge Platform was retained as a solution at the MedCop21 and presented as a Mediterranean proposal for the climate conference of Paris in December 2015 (COP21).

This platform, which was certified by the Union for the Mediterranean in 2014, is also a key element of the Water Strategy Action Plan for the Western Mediterranean region, adopted at ministerial level in March 2015.